Prices rise, patience thins in sanctions-hit Iran

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A simple trip to the store in Iran these days offers a crash course in life under Western economic sanctions.

The prices of many imported goods — from South Korean refrigerators to Turkish crackers — can be double from last year. The money to buy them, meanwhile, has plunged in value against the U.S. dollar and other foreign currencies.

But there are no apparent shortages for those still willing to buy. Chinese products pour in to fill gaps left by European businesses and others that have left Iran’s massive consumer market following economic sanctions over the Islamic Republic’s refusal to rein in its nuclear program.

“You can find what you want,” said Hasan Alaei, who imports food items mostly from China. “The problem is the cost of the imports have increased because of sanctions and the exchange rates.”

It’s places such as these — electronics stores, supermarkets, auto supply outlets, Tehran’s vast bazaar — where the bite of sanctions is most visible even as the U.S. and Europe take aim at Iran’s critical oil exports with new measures.

Iran’s leaders have claimed there are still enough willing customers in energy-hungry Asia and elsewhere to counter Western oil sanctions. The more immediate troubles are brewing in the shops and markets where consumer discontent may dominate parliamentary elections March 2 and bring added pressures on Iran’s ruling establishment.

So far, the leadership can be bolstered by widespread public support for the nation’s nuclear program and the perception that sanctions display double standards by the West, which has not forced Israel to publicly disclose details about its arsenal. Israel is widely believe to have nuclear weapons capabilities, but it refuses to confirm or deny the speculation.

But a slumping economy — already rattled by the removal of subsidies that drove up fuel prices — has the potential to erode the backing for Iran’s defiance of demands to halt uranium enrichment, which the U.S. and allies claim could lead to the production of weapons-grade material. Iran insists it only seeks reactors for energy and medical research.

Some cracks are already showing in Iran’s merchant class that has been a traditional base of support for the Islamic system. Importers are struggling with a slumping currency and suppliers are increasingly nervous about dealing with Iranian banks.

For Sharhriar Azadeh, owner of a shop that sells decorative items such as plastic flowers and glass figurines, it’s meant raising prices between 30 percent and 50 percent because of the falling Iranian rial, which has been dragged down by a combination of panic over sanctions and government policies to sharply reduce bank interests that made rials less attractive.

The unofficial rate hovered around 18,000 rials to the dollar this week — down from a high of more than 23,000 last month but still far from the rate of less than 11,000 about a year ago.

Siavash Yaghmaei, who runs an import-export business and also works as a customs middleman, said Iranian businesses are being forced back into a cash-only system because of concerns over the country’s increasing economic isolation.

“We can’t get any letters of credit because of the banking restrictions,” Yaghmaei said. “Our trade partners know that. So they demand cash. And they want 100 percent of the cash before shipping the items.”